Women's attitudes to mastectomy for breast cancer

One hundred patients who had been subjected to mastectomy for carcinoma were interviewed retrospectively to gauge their attitudes to any physical and/or emotional disabilities relating to their operation or disease. It was found that 40% of the patients had delayed for longer than a month after the onset of symptoms before seeking medical advice, but the reasons for this were not readily forthcoming. However, fear of mastectomy was not a common cause. Anxiety and embarassment due to an absent breast occurred in about one-third of patients, and did not diminish with time. Knowledge and the use of mammary prostheses was far from universal, and disturbingly only two-thirds were counselled in these matters by their medical advisers. Physical complications were common, particularly lymphoedema of the arm, and as expected this was closely related to the type and extent of treatment undertaken.     

Anticonvulsant drug concentrations in epileptic patients

Using Wistar stain male rats, it has been shown that 2 atmospheric pressures associated with oxygen saturation, together or singly for 90 minutes daily for successive 46 days, resulted in no significant change on the ratio of testes to body weight. No significant change was observed in the incorporation of 3H-thymidine into testes and pituitary glands between the pressure-treated groups and the control group.     

Serum albumin. A CAP survey

The results of a 1974 survey of albumin measurements as performed by more than 1,300 laboratories are presented. The most widely used methods are the dye-binding technics: bromcresol green (BCG) and 2-(4'-hydroxyazobenzene) benzoic acid (HABA). These are followed by electrophoresis and salt fractionation. All methods yielded comparable albumin concentrations except electrophoresis, which manifested a consistent low bias. This close agreement is attributed, in part, to the normal-range concentration of albumin in the test specimen. Type of standardization, i.e., commercial serum, bovine serum albumin, human serum albumin, or pooled serum, did not appear to be a factor in the estimation of albumin in the normal serum submitted for analysis. Surprisingly, interlaboratory variation, from method means, was the lowest for salt fractionation and electrophoretic technics.     

Ultrasound in the management of acute pancreatitis

Thirty-eight patients have been examined by ultrasound when symptoms or sign suggested the development of a pseudocyst following an attack of proven acute pancreatitis. Pseudocyst was diagnosed in 23 of the 38 cases. Five patients had multilocular cysts, four of which were shown to be communicating. Laparotomy was carried out on 14 of the 23 patients and surgical drainage was performed in 12 cases. The remaining nine cases were monitored and showed steady regression. Small cysts arising in the head of pancreas may give rise to recurrent or persistent pancreatitis and may be demonstrated pre-operatively by ultrasound but not readily by other means. A further 12 patients showed an area of irregular absorption of ultrasound interpreted as an inflammatory mass. Monitoring of these cases showed progressive resolution without cyst formation. Three of these cases subsequently required laparotomy-one developed an abscess and one necrosis of the body and tail of pancreas while a third developed severe pancreatic fibrosis of the area identified by ultrasound. The ability to distinguish between pseudocysts and inflammatory masses and to demonstrate communication between multiple cysts is of considerable value in pre-operative diagnosis.     

Autoflora in the upper respiratory tract of Apollo astronauts

The typical microbial inhabitants of the oral and nasal cavities of Apollo astronauts were identified before space flight and generally found to be similar to those previously reported for healthy male adults. Additional analyses of samples collected immediately after return of the Apollo 13, 14, 15, and 16 crew members to earth were performed to evaluate the effects of space travel on the microbial bioburden of the upper respiratory tract. In-flight cross-contamination and buildup of pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus were noted, although significant increases in nonpathogenic species were absent. Other proposed alterations, such as dysbacteriosis (flooding of the mouth with a single species) and simplification of the autoflora, did not occur. Generally, the incidence and quantitation of each species after flight was within the preflight range, although the number of viable Haemophilus cells recovered from the mouth decreased significantly after space flight. Except for those minor alterations listed above, the aerobic and anaerobic bacterial components of the upper respiratory autoflora of Apollo astronauts was found to be stable after space flight of up to 295 h.     

A multifactorial study of patients with asthma. Part 2: air pollution, animal dander and asthma symptoms

As part of a multifactorial computer-assisted study of patients with asthma, the relationship between air pollution, animal dander and asthma symptoms was evaluated. No association was found between four major air pollutants (carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide) and asthma symptoms. Patients who owned cats and dogs reported more severe asthma symptoms (p less than .01) than patients who did not own cats and dogs. The evaluations completed to date indicate that daily exposure to cats and dogs accounts for more of the asthma symptoms differences between patients than daily exposure to air pollutants.     

Genitourinary tuberculosis: a study of short course regimens

The problem in the treatment of genitourinary tuberculosis was to find a new regimen of chemotherapy that was shorter in time but equally effective as the traditional 2-year method, using streptomycin, isoniazid and para-aminoslicylate. A short course of treatment using rifampin, isoniazid and ethambutol was then devised, the method depending on the severity of the disease using the Semb classification. This short course of chemotherapy was combined with an early operation in advanced or extensive disease in the urinary tract. The regimen is as satisfactory as the traditional method and a followup of 2 years is all that is necessary.